Canada Jetlines Postpones IPO as Inovent Merger Deal Ends

Canada Jetlines Ltd. is postponing its C$50 million ($40 million) initial public offering as it talks with other investors to start a low-cost airline.

Jetlines ended its merger agreement with Vancouver-based Inovent Capital Inc. and is pursuing other opportunities, according to a Feb. 6 statement on the company website.

“We still intend to do an IPO, that hasn’t changed at all,” Jetlines President David Solloway said Monday in a telephone interview from Vancouver. Jetlines and Inovent had filed for documents for an IPO on the TSX Venture Exchange in November.

Jetlines plans to start a domestic airline out of Vancouver International Airport this year using Boeing Co. 737 jets, according to a Dec. 19 regulatory filing. The company signed a purchase agreement in December with Boeing for the jets.

Solloway said the prospectus kept Jetlines from talking to other potential investors who approached the company, so the airline let its Sept. 12 merger agreement with Inovent expire.

Jetlines has been approached by “a very large corporation” and a private investor and plans to start talks this week, he said. Timing of an IPO depends on the outcome of the talks, he said.

Inovent Capital will be publishing a statement regarding the matter shortly, CEO David Brett said Monday by telephone.